The nation's largest hockey tournament set to be hosted in Tauranga for the first time since 2005 this week, has been postponed.

Set to take place at Tauranga Hockey and Tauranga Boys' College, from Sunday, February 28, until Saturday, March 6, the Vantage National Masters Hockey Tournament would have seen men and women from various age groups over 35 in action.

Following the government's announcement to shift alert levels – Auckland is now at alert level three and the rest the country is at two – organisers of the masters' have had to postpone the event.

'We acknowledge this is disappointing for all involved,” says a statement on the Hockey Tauranga website.

'Hockey NZ will finalise the new dates once we have had a chance to consider all the factors.

'We hope this confirmation is helpful for any discussions you are having with accommodation providers regarding pre-paid accommodation.

'As we said last (Saturday) night, this is not the outcome any of us wanted but the only one that was possible in such a high-risk situation.”